Five political prisoners in southwest Iran face execution, rights group says

Lindsay Foreman and Craig Foreman were arrested in January 2025 while traveling through Iran during an around-the-world motorcycle trip.

They were later sentenced to 10 years in prison on espionage charges after Iranian authorities accused them of gathering information in several parts of the country, allegations they deny.

The couple lost their appeal against the sentence earlier this week, Reuters reported, citing their family.

The Foremans are being held in separate wings of Tehran’s Evin prison, which rights groups have long criticized over alleged torture and inhumane conditions.

The couple began a strike after being denied phone calls, visits with each other and meetings with their lawyer following an interview with the BBC World Service.

Health concerns grow as hunger strike continues

Prison officials have exerted various forms of pressure on the two detainees in recent weeks to force them to end their hunger strike, a source familiar with their condition told Iran International.

The source said both prisoners had lost a significant amount of weight and that the prison deputy had visited their wards only once during that period.

Lindsay Foreman is now barely able to walk after nearly three weeks on hunger strike, the source added.

The head of Evin prison has stopped nurses from entering the women’s ward, where nurses had previously been present regularly, the source said. As a result, Lindsay Foreman’s blood pressure has not been measured or recorded for about a week.

In recent days, Lindsay Foreman’s cellmates obtained a blood pressure monitor from the guard officer after protesting and following up on her condition, and measured her blood pressure at 8 over 5, according to the source, who is familiar with the situation of political prisoners in Evin.

Her transfer to the infirmary was also difficult because she had to be carried up about 30 steps to reach it, the source said. Despite her condition, prison officials refused to record her medical status or provide the necessary care and returned her to the ward.

The source also said officials had refused in recent weeks to allow Lindsay Foreman to receive glasses, vitamin tablets and some hygiene items she needed, measures the source said are usually approved after some time even in similar cases.

A source close to the family of one prisoner held in Evin told Iran International that one of Lindsay Foreman’s cellmates quoted her as saying: “We only spoke about the conditions we live in; about the executions we see and hear about, and the names of those announced every day. This is the reality of our lives. Now, because we said what is happening, we have been denied phone calls and visits, while we are far from our families and children. We did not say anything new; we only recounted what is happening every day in Iran.”

The source added that Craig Foreman, explaining the reasons for his hunger strike to his cellmates, said: “In addition to being denied calls and visits, many of my cellmates have been taken away in recent months for their execution sentences to be carried out and never returned. Five people have been executed from the room where I am being held alone.”

The protests, which began in late May in western and central Iran, initially focused on how final exams were being held. They later grew into a broader demand to cancel the fixed impact of 11th-grade GPA scores on the national university entrance exam, or at least change it to a positive-only effect.

Students have protested in West Azarbaijan, Isfahan, Tehran, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Razavi Khorasan, North Khorasan, Khuzestan, Zanjan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Fars, Qazvin, Qom, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Gilan, Lorestan, Mazandaran, Markazi and Yazd provinces.

In Yazd, several students were injured during clashes at a protest. In Qom, at least one person was arrested. In Saveh, education department staff clashed with protesters.

Students in Shahrekord, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, gathered on Saturday alongside students in other provinces and chanted against education policies, including: “Student, cry out! demand your rights” and “Incompetent official we don’t want you.”

A video sent to Iran International showed students in Tehran gathering outside the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution to protest its decisions on the university entrance exam. They chanted: “Justice, education, our undeniable right.”

Earlier in June, students in Khorramabad gathered outside Lorestan’s education department and demanded transparency over the holding of exams. Similar gatherings were reported in Arak and Isfahan, where students protested in-person exams and poor educational conditions.

The protests reached a peak this week in Tehran, when a group of 11th- and 12th-grade students gathered outside the Ministry of Education to oppose the fixed impact of 11th-grade GPA scores on university entrance results.

Students held banners reading “Hear the voice of Iran’s students” and demanded that the policy be scrapped or changed to a positive-only effect.

Dozens of students have sent messages to Iran International criticizing uncertainty in education policy, saying repeated changes to exam and entrance rules have placed heavy psychological pressure on them.

They say the current generation of university applicants has already faced school closures, online education, social crises and repeated changes to education rules, and should not be harmed again by another shift in entrance exam policy.

Qatar strongly condemned repeated Iranian attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain, calling them a flagrant violation of the two countries’ sovereignty and a clear breach of international law.

In a statement, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said the region must be spared the consequences of what it called unjustified attacks, and called for de-escalation to restore regional and international security and stability.

The United Arab Emirates also condemned what it called Iranian “terrorist attacks” on Bahrain with missiles and drones.

The UAE Foreign Ministry said the attacks represented a clear violation of Bahrain’s sovereignty and a threat to its security and stability.

It expressed full solidarity with Bahrain and said Abu Dhabi supported all measures aimed at preserving the country’s security and stability.

An Iranian lawmaker said parliament is reviewing legislation aimed at reinforcing what he described as Tehran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, saying the issue goes beyond economic benefits and carries security, military, geopolitical and diplomatic dimensions.

Abbas Soufi, deputy chairman of parliament’s Construction Committee, told ISNA that the Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most strategic maritime routes and plays a central role in Iran’s economy, security and regional position.

Soufi said the waterway has become more important after the war and argued that the Islamic Republic’s control over it had been strengthened by the armed forces.

He described the strait as a vital artery for Iran’s economy and a deterrent tool for Tehran, saying it could serve after the war both as a defensive shield and as a strategic economic asset.

Soufi said parliament is reviewing a three-urgency bill on asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the proposal must be examined from legal, economic, security and international angles.

He said several parliamentary committees, including the Construction Committee, Economic Committee, National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, and Legal and Judicial Committee, should review the bill because of its broad implications.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry condemned Iranian attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait, saying they violated the sovereignty of both countries and posed a threat to regional and international security.

In a statement, the ministry said Iran’s continued attacks meant further escalation and were pushing the region toward greater tension and instability.

Saudi Arabia said the attacks undermined international efforts to restore security and stability in the region.

The ministry voiced Riyadh’s solidarity with Bahrain and Kuwait and said Saudi Arabia fully supports any measures the two countries take to protect their sovereignty, security and stability.